Train-actuated rail.



H. F. ROACH.

TRAIN AGTUATBD RAIL.

APPLICATION FILED 920.16, 1907.

Patented June 29, 1909. 2 SHEETS- SHEET l.

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TRAIN ACTUATED RAIL.

APPLICATION FILED 1320.16, 1907,

926,210. I Patented June 29,1909.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HARRY F. ROACH7 OF ST ..LOUIS, MISSOURI, ASSIGNOR 'l`O CONTINUOUS RAILet SAFETY SWITCH CO., OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, A CORPORATION OF NEWJERSEY.

TRAIN-ACTUATED RAIL.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HARRY F. RoAoH, a citizen of the United States,residing at St. Louis, Missouri, have invented a certain new and usefulImprovement in Train-Actuated Rails, of which the following is a full,clear, and eXact description, such as will enable others skilled in theart to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being.had to the accom anying drawings, forming part of this speci cation, inwhich- Figure l is a top plan view of my improved actuating member andits support 3 Fig. 2 is a side elevation of said member and support;Fig. 3 is a cross sectional view taken on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2, Fig. 4is a cross sectional view taken on the line 4 4 oi' F ig. 2; Fig. 5 is across sectional view taken on the line 5 5 of Fig. 2, this 'ligure alsoillustrating the actuating member as being provided with dependingflanges or plates that prevent the accumulation ci' snow or ice on theportions of the support which said member rests upon when in itsdepressed position; Figs. 6 and 7 are perspective views of the actuatingmember and Fig. S is a perspective view o'll the support for saidmember.

This invention relates to train-actuated rails designed particularly foractuating switch frogs of the type described in my pending application,Serial No. 403,959, filed November 26, 1907. The 'frog described in saidapplication comprises a i'iivotally mounted tongue arranged at the pointwhere one of the rails of the siding crosses over or intersects one ofthe rails of the main line, and means for moving said tongue so that itwill form a continuation of said rails. The means shown and described insaid application for actuating the movable tongue consists ofdepressible bars or members arranged longitudinally of one rail of eachtrack and slightly above the treads of said rails so that when a wheelapproaches the frog the pressure of the wheel will depress said bar ormember and move it longitudinally, the longitudinal movement of saidmember being transmitted to the movable tongue by a system of links andlevers.

My present invention consists in a longie tudinally movable bar ormember for actuat- Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed December 16, 1907.

l l l l l l r Patented June 29, 1909.

Serial No. 406,808.

device, as the case may be, and the main object ol my invention is toprovide an actuating member of novel construction which will not beliable to become accidentally displaced.

Another object of my invention is to provide a member for the purposedescribed having means for preventing snow, dirt or other foreign matterfrom accumulating on the support on which said member rests when it isdepressed.

Referring to the drawings which illustrate the preferred form of myinvention, l designates a portion of a track rail, and 2 designates aportion of the pivotally mounted tongue that is adapted to be shifted toform a continuation of one rail of the siding or mainline as describedin my pending application above referred to. The device that is employedfor actuating said tongue consists of a member A mounted on linksBnpivotally connected at their lower ends to a stationary support and ofsuch length that a portion of the member A will project above the treadof the track rail when said links are in an upright iosition, as shownin full lines in Fig. 2, thereby causing said member to be depressed andmoved loi'igitudinally toward the tongue 2 when it is engaged by a wheelthat is approaching the frog. It is obvious that the member A might beguided in its movement by slots, and in this way the links would bedispensed with. A rod 4l is secured to the rear end of the member A fortransmitting the longitudinal movement of said member to levers or othersuitable mechanism connected to the tongue 2. After the member A hasbeen depressed by a wheel 'passing over same, it is returned to itsnormal elevated position by means of a. spring 4 that is secured to therod 4, as shown in Fig. l. The support for the member A )referablyconsists of pressed steel, though I have shown a casting having a base 5and a vertically disposed web 6 which for part of its length is providedwith a head 7 conforming in cross section to the head on the track raill against which it abuts, and a half-head S forming a continuation ofthe head 7. The remaining portion of the web 6 is not provided with ahead so that the casting ren ing the movable tongue of the frog, orother l sembles a T-rail having its entire head removed for a portion ofits length and half of its head removed from its adjacent portion. Themember A consists of' a straight shank 9 that is adapted to lie againstone side of the vertical web 6 of the support and thus form a bearingsurface that cooperates with, the half head 8 to form a complete treadfor a wheel7 and at the rear end of said shank is an invertedchannel-shaped portion or head 10 which embraces the portion of the web6 of the support that is not rovided with a head, said inverted channe-shaped portion cooperating with the heads on the support to form acontinuous tread or bearing surface for the wheel. r1`he member A isprovided with laterally projecting trunnions 11 that enter 0 enings inthe upper ends of the links 3 and t ie base 5 is provided with blocks 12having trunnions 13 that enter openings in the lower ends of said links.The blocks or lugs 12 are adapted to form bearing surfaces for themember A when it is depressed, as shown in broken lines in l? ig. 2, and1 also prefer to form additional lugs or projections 12a on the base soas to firmly support the member A throughout its entire length.

The base 5 of the support is cut out adjacent the blocks 12 to provideclearness for the lower ends of the links 3, and a lug or flange 14projects upwardly from the base 5 so as to contact with the outside faceof the front end of the shank 9 or' the member A an d prevent it frommoving laterally away from the web of the support, the invertedchannel-shaped head 1() on the rear end of the member A embracing theweb 5 of the support and thus performing the same function.

As shown in Fig. 8, the support is provided with convexed surfaces 15and 15EL and the front end of the inverted channel-shaped head 10 of themember A is provided with cooperating concaved faces 16 and 17. `Whensaid member A is depressed and moved longitudinally toward the tongue 2the concaved surface 17 on the head 10 comes into engagement with theconvexed surface 15 of the supporting member, and the central web of theinverted channel-shaped portion 1() of said member A bears throughoutits entire length on the upper edge of the portion of the web 6 which itembraces, as well as its legs bearing on the blocks 12 and 12a. vffith aconstruction of this description there is no liabilityT of the actuatingmember A becoming accidentally displaced for it is securely supported inboth its elevated and depressed positions. Furthermore, as the member Aforms part of the rail on which the wheel travels, there is nopossibility of the wheel not engaging said member and thus failing tooperate the tongue 2. Another advantage of this construction is that theactuating member A and its support can be built as a single unit andthen shipped to the point where it is to be installedr the support beingconnected to the track rail by means of fish. plates 18. Instead ofcasting the support for the member A 1 can form said support from arolled T-rail by removing the entire head ol' the rail for a portion ofits length and half of the rail head from the adjacen portion. li'desired, the head 10 of the actuating member can be provided withdepending hanges or plates 1 9 that telescope overthelugs or blocks 12and 12a, as shown in Fig. 5, and thus prevent snow or ice fromaccumulating on said lugs.

1 do not deem it necessary to show the switch tongue or element to bemoved in the accompanying drawings, as the same forms no part of mypresent inv ntion. 1 consider that the rod 4 which is retracted by aspring and which is connected with the element to be moved, is a movableelement, and in the following claims 1 have employed the expressionmovable element in its broad sense, whether the element to be moved is aswitch, tongue, rod, or other device.

Having thus described my invention, what 1 claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is:

1. A device for the purpose described, comprising asupport havingvertically disposed web having a con-,vexed bearing surface, adcpressible actuating member having a shanl; that extends longitudinallyof said web and a head of approximately inverted channel-shape thatembraces said web, and concaved bearing 'faces on said head which areadapted to engage the convexed bearing surface on the web ot the supportwhen said actuating member is in its elevated and depressed positions 5substantially as described.

2. A device for the purpose described, comprising a support having abase and a vertically disposed web, a depressibic actuating memberarranged longitudinally of said support and liavingahead that embracessaid web, and means for preventing snow or ice from collectingunderneath the lower edge ol the head of said actuating member 5substantially as described.

3. A device for the purpose described, comprising a support ofapproximately inverted'i'shape, a depressible actuating mem-Y ber havinga head of inverted channel-shape that embraces the vertically disposedweb of said support, lugs on the base of said support on. which saidactuating member' rests when in its depressed position, and dependingflanges on the head of said member which telescope over said lugs 5substantially as de scribed.

L1. A support for an actuating member consisting ol a casting thatcomprises a base and a vertically disposed web provided for a portion ofits length with a rail head and having a half head on its adjacentportion, an actuating member, blocks on the base of said l support whichform bearing surfaces for said actuating member, trunnions on some ofsaid signature in the presence of two Witnesses, blocks which formfulcrums for devices that this fourteenth day of December 1907.

carry said actuatino' member, and means on 1 the base to prevent saidaotuatin member HARRY F' ROACH' 5 from moving laterally; substantiallyas de- Witnesses:

scribed. F. R. CORNWALL,

In testimony whereof Ihereunto nflix my GEORGE BAKEWELL,

